Report on the KIPAWA project

The NCPWD and Enterprise Business Unit (EBU) of Safaricom Limited entered into an MoU, which gave birth to KIPAWA, their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The projects aimed at creating opportunities for persons with disabilities and a number of schools were selected as beneficiaries of the program with a vision of empowering and caring for the students.

‘Kipawa’ is a Swahili word that means Empowerment and this is the goal that EBU staff are pursuing and intend to meet at the tail end of the campaign. The Campaign’s Mission is to offer support (Financial) and creating opportunities for growth to the exceptional students in these schools, thus they shall touch and transform not only the students’ lives but also EBU staffs’ lives through constant engagement and interaction with the students. The Campaign’s Vision is to break down the Stigma directed towards persons with disabilities and create an enabling environment for equal opportunities and fair competition for all. The following are the proposed schools and projects;

1. Tana River County - Hola School for the Mentally Handicapped. Project- Renovation of classrooms & desks

2. Kakamega County - Ematundu Secondary School for the Deaf. Project- Construction of a dormitory

3. Turkana County - Katilu Integrated Primary School for the Visually Impaired. Project- Construction of a dining hall

4. Kiambu County - Mugomoini Special Unit for Children with Autism. Project -Construction of two classrooms

5. Homabay County - Lambwe Christian School for the Deaf. Project- Construction of a dining hall/ kitchen

6. Nairobi County - Mathare Special Training Center. Project- Construction of two classrooms/ ramp

2

The Ground Breaking Ceremony at Lambwe Christian School for the Deaf held on 22nd Feb 2017 at the School in Lambwe Valley in Homabay County. The event was attended by officials from NCPWD, Safaricom, Homabay County, Local administration and the local community.

The Guests signing the visitors book at the Head teacher’s office.

The Guests included Dr. David Ole Sankok Chair of the NCPWD, Rita Okuthe, Head of EBU Safaricom, Catherine Wameyo, Ag. Deputy Director, NCPWD, James Ndwiga, Head of Programmes, CEC in Charge of Education and ICT, Naftali Mata, Margaret Odhiambo, Headteacher Lambwe, Walter Okumu, Lambwe MCA amongst other guests. The Chief guest was Dr. David Ole Sankok, Chairman of the NCPWD.

3

The guest sitted wait for the event to kick off. The event was marked with a number of activities which included entertainment, exhibition, speeches by the guests and other speakers included

Students entertaining the guest

Guests joined the students in a jig.

• Madam. Rita Okuthe, Head of EBU thanked her team for the great work they are doing to improve and empower the lives of children with

4

disabilities in the project they are undertaking. She further stated that as Safaricom, they are ready to partner with other institutions to support the less privileged in the society just at their motto states, transforming lives.

Madam Rita Okuthe, delivering her speech.

Mr. Walter Okumu, Area MCA thanked the Council and Safaricom for joining hands and coming up with a project to support the children with disability. He pledged his support in whatever way he could to ensure that the children have a conducive environment to study.

The CEC in Charge of Education and ICT, Naftali Mata started by admitting that he resides from that area but has never known that there is a school for children with disabilities. He stated that the county is a friend to eprosn with disabilities as it has had a number of events regarding disability and for this school, he promised to provide Kshs. 100,000 donations towards food, support to bring water to the school through some water provision project the county had partnered with an international organization and further bring on board special needs education teachers.

5

The CEC Naftali Mata, delivering his speech during the event.

The Ag. Deputy Director, Catherine Wameyo was impressed by the performance of the students and encouraged other stakeholders to support children with disabilities. She expounded on the various programmes the council has and urged the students to register and take enjoy the programmes the council has.

Catherine Wameyo, introducing members of NCPWD staff.

6

Catherine Wameyo delivering her speech.

The Chief Guest, Dr. Sankok urged the students concentrate on their studies and nurture their talents so that they can be realize their dreams and rock the world. He encouraged the school to take advantage of the programmes the government has put in place for persons with disabilities. He further urged persons with disabilities to participate in governance by voting and vying for elective posts stating that they have a right to vie for any position.

The Chief Guest, Dr. Sankok delivering his speech.

7

• Tree planting, ground breaking and presentation of the cheque; The Head teacher invited the guests to plant trees a part of the ground breaking ceremony. Each organization had their own tree and they were assisted by various students to plant and water them. The ground breaking ceremony was done by the Dr. Sankok and Madam Rita at the proposed site of the dining hall. Later the head teacher was issued with a dummy cheque of 3 million (2 million from NCPWD and 1 Million from Safaricom) towards the construction of the dining hall. The Council would support the construction while Safaricom to support the furnishing of the dining hall.

Tree planting session by various guests.

8

The students presented hand drawn portraits of the guests as a token of appreciation.

Emerging issues/ Challenges;

• Water: was mentioned as the greatest challenge since rain is erratic, as Lambwe is semi-arid. The school has been waiting for a donor to come forward to construct a bore hole.

• Dining Hall: The pupils eat outside and are prone to be hit by varied weather patterns.

• Fencing: Only 4 acres out of 16 is fenced. The land is used for farming is not fenced thus the community around use is as a grazing field causing conflicts with the school

9

• Classrooms: There are currently 7, out of the required 10. Nursery and baby class combined. With no computers, which aid learning of language learning.

• Electricity: Electricity installed and paid for by donors. However; during blackouts, nothing goes on since the pupils depend on light for communication

• Vocational Opportunities: Creating opportunities in art, jewelry, dress making etc.

Way forward

• At Lambwe, Safaricom is constructing a dining hall / Kitchen worth 2 million donated by Council in partnership with Safaricom Limited under the Kipawa CSR for Enterprise Business Unit and equipping the dining hall / kitchen with equipment worth 1 Million donated by Safaricom Foundation and it will impact 113 number of students.

• County promised 100,000 towards feeding the children. • The County also promised to connect the school with water through one of

the water projects with an international organization. • The County through the CEC promised to bring on board special needs

teachers.